Breeder rat died?

[Skits]

I picked up 6 adult rats for free from someone, her pet store was giving them away as feeders and she took them in. I was told the females were maybe 4-6 months old, I had them for a bit over a month now. One of the females died today suddenly and I was wondering why it could have been? Seemed like she might have been pregnant and maybe died from complications? I'm not sure..

However, I did just realize I've been using cedar bedding which I know gives them RI so I'll change that out tomorrow (it's 5am now)..

[Snakefood]

could have been anything, alot of times people don't know how old the rats are, especially when they are the second/third ect... owner and rats don't have that long of a lifespan. it could have been the bedding (but then the others would probably be sick too, it could have been a bad pregnancy or it could have been a cancer which rats are extremely prone to.

You will probably never know unless you plan a necropsy

[Lickeypie]

I had a mouse that I got pregnant, I was planning to keep her until she gave birth and weaned the pups, but *I think* the night she was going to give birth she passed away.

[CosmicOwl]

I had a mouse that I got pregnant, I was planning to keep her until she gave birth and weaned the pups, but *I think* the night she was going to give birth she passed away.

That was a poor choice of words :shocked:

[Sharlynn93]

^like button! that was funny...but in all seriousness, snakefood hit the nail on the head...idk if you were the first owner, but my pet rat that I had as a teen ended up passing from cancer at age 3.5...vet said it was quite common, and he had actually lived quite a long life for a rat...we used cedar bedding years ago for rodents and it was never an issue with them...never had respiratory issues or anything...(except for the 1 rat and the cancer wasn't linked to the bedding, supposedly, but that was 1989) I think the cedar is only a concern if they are going to be used for feeders (which is your case) because of the toxicity with reptiles...

[Lickeypie]

That was a poor choice of words :shocked:

Hahahah! I meant when I got her, she was already pregnant :3